Bob Hugin on Health Care

AdWatch: Raised drug prices in US while lowering them abroad

Senator Bob Menendez announced his second campaign commercial, attacking Hugin for raising the price of Revlimid in the U.S. while lowering it in Russia. Menendez was indicted in April 2015 on federal corruption charges; he has sought to turn the ethics
issue back on Celgene Corp. executive Bob Hugin. Celgene under Hugin paid $280 million to settle charges that it pushed drugs for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and that it submitted false claims to Medicare.

The company spent more money than ever before as it lobbied against legislation that could speed up a generic alternative to its Revlimid cancer drug.

"Bob Hugin is the guy who got rich ripping off cancer patients and defrauding Medicare, the guy who's spent millions supporting Donald Trump and right-wing candidates and causes, and is now trying to buy a Senate seat," a Menendez supporter said.

As CEO, paid $280M drug settlement

A whistleblower lawsuit in 2014 accusing Celgene of putting cancer patients in danger by hiding information about potentially fatal side effects of 2 Celgene anti-cancer drugs. Celgene denies it all, but the company didn't fight the accusations in
court. It˙settled the lawsuit for $280 million in July of 2017, while Hugin served as CEO and chairman. I asked Hugin about it Friday morning. A trial would have spooked investors, he said, leading to a drop in the company's value.

Will use his 20 years in healthcare to craft new reforms

"I'm going to go to Washington and I'm going to craft specific proposals to reform health care," he added. The former pharmaceutical executive has pledged to bring a sense of affordability and responsibility back.
In an op-ed this week, Hugin reflected on his nearly 20 years working in the sector and declared that the U.S. is failing to adequately address the increasing inequality of health care.